GDT: WCSF GM05 | Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers | Thur. May 16th | 7pm PST | SNP/CBC | So Tight, Almost Like a Playoff Series

[GrumpyKoala]

I agree,

I don't ever recall a coach shaking the lines up so much when a series is tied 2-2.....they're not down 2-0 or 3-1.

He obviously put forth the best lineup for the first 4 games, now he's almost panicking for some reason. Vancouver fans see it as a close series, apparently Tocchet doesn't seem to think so.

I have no idea how this will pan out
However, I will put my money on the over 6.5

 

[soothsayer]

They get deleted for trolling, but there's been many posts from Oiler fans about how the Canucks won't hack it in r3 even if they win.



shrug

Everyone knows that Oiler fans can't give any credit to their opponents. It was the same against Vegas, Colorado, and Winnipeg.

Not a single Oiler fan says they should have beaten Colorado. Everyone knew there was no chance there.

 

[LuLover96]

Not a single Oiler fan says they should have beaten Colorado. Everyone knew there was no chance there.

Not true, there were a lot of questions around the Avs goaltending and Oiler fans thought McDavid would show to be better than MacKinnon enough to make it a close series. I'm not convinced that Oilers fans thought they *would* win, but there was definitely belief that they *could* if everything went right.

 

[Artemi Panarin]

Nothing will ever be sadder than lurking other team's OOT threads.

Nothing will ever be sadder than reading a thread that's accessible to everyone on the forum?

You guys crack me up man

 

[soothsayer]

Not true, there were a lot of questions around the Avs goaltending and Oiler fans thought McDavid would show to be better than MacKinnon enough to make it a close series. I'm not convinced that Oilers fans thought they *would* win, but there was definitely belief that they *could* if everything went right.

I mean, of course they could have beaten them if everything went right lol.

 

[LuLover96]

Shaking up 3 of 4 lines... Big moves

I agree,

I don't ever recall a coach shaking the lines up so much when a series is tied 2-2.....they're not down 2-0 or 3-1.

He obviously put forth the best lineup for the first 4 games, now he's almost panicking for some reason. Vancouver fans see it as a close series, apparently Tocchet doesn't seem to think so.

It's not really shaking things up. This team has its lines going in waves, and one of the biggest issues is we never have everything going at once. These playoffs we've had two strong lines, solid D and goaltending, and a slightly above average PK.

All of these "new" lines have been seen before and have worked in the past (minus the Lindholm line because he was hurt), but Dak-Blue-Gar was one of the best lines in the league at generating chances and zone time in December. Joshua got hurt right around when we got Lindholm so that stopped being a factor, and the team went in another direction for a while. When he returned, we had Joshua on Millers line for a bit because Suter wasn't finishing his chances, and then we ended up with Dak-Lindy-Gar later and it stuck. We're not like the Bruins of the past where we have our best lines set from day one, it kind of goes in ebbs and flows.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Fine, everyone knows that SOME Oiler fans.

Well, not everyone, but it's interesting how when the hysterical hyperbole is corrected, it becomes clear that the sentiment needn't be publicly expressed at all.

 

[Brookbank]

Should be an easy win for Oilers barring a goaltending collapse.

The games haven't been all that close tbh... Sillows standing on his head and Stuart Skinner being Stuart Skinner are the only reasons this series isn't either 3-1 Edmonton or already over. Edmonton has controlled over 60% of the expected goals in this series. It's contender vs bubble level shit.

So division winner is bubble level shit ?

 

[Brookbank]

I'm not conceding, I think the Canucks are going to win, and I always have. I said Nucks in 7 in the series poll and have been very active on HF/Twitter talking about how the Canucks will likely win this series. Their depth is far superior to Edmontons and playing your top 5 players 23-29 minutes a night doesn't bode well for the last 3 games in a series when they're all separated by a days rest each. Plus, your historic powerplay won't be as much of a factor when the whistles get put away.

That doesn't change that the Oilers have always expected to win this series. They were expected to stomp the Canucks, and many "bright" hockey minds were saying sweeps or a 5 game series in favour of Edmonton. Even after we won game one the Oilers brass were talking about how they lost the game, rather than them being beaten. Every mind in their organization knows that the pressure is on them to win. Hell, we even had threads saying this was the easiest road to the conference finals in recent memory for the Oilers. Not to mention you're playing a 23 year old third string goalie.

Make no mistake, if the Oilers lose then this will be considered a massive choke on their end, largely because one of Bouchard or Draisaitl are gone after next season unless you can find someone to take on the albatrosses of Nurse and Campbell. Even then, you'll be the next Maple Leafs. Vancouver's core is entering their prime, and with Myers' contract coming off the books and a Mikheyev buyout incoming, I don't doubt that we'll be better next year than this year. We're gaining experience for the rest of our contention window, which I imagine will be the remainder of Demko's contract.

My point is that if you somehow make it past us, you'll have to learn how to hold onto your leads because you won't get them often against a juggernaut in Colorado or Dallas. Even then, I say it's a short series.

Mikheyev isn't getting bought out. Teams need players like him. If Bouvillier is worth a 5th round pick twice , Mikheyev is too. He's just the kind of player the Blackhawks and teams like that need.

Typical for Canucks fans to think the down and out player of the day is worth literally nothing.

 

[LuLover96]

Mikheyev isn't getting bought out. Teams need players like him. If Bouvillier is worth a 5th round pick twice , Mikheyev is too. He's just the kind of player the Blackhawks and teams like that need.

Typical for Canucks fans to think the down and out player of the day is worth literally nothing.

Don’t need to generalize for an entire fan base just because I made a statement, obviously if we can find a team to take him then we do so. It’s also highly possible that his ACL injury needs another few months before he can be back to full speed, in which case I’d cheer for him to come back stronger than ever. The fact is he’s not producing when it matters, and he’s been really struggling with some top players in the regular season too. He’s a buyout candidate if the team feels like he should be doing better than he is.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Mikheyev isn't getting bought out. Teams need players like him. If Bouvillier is worth a 5th round pick twice , Mikheyev is too. He's just the kind of player the Blackhawks and teams like that need.

Typical for Canucks fans to think the down and out player of the day is worth literally nothing.

Mikheyev has 1 goal in 60 games and literally zero points throughout the playoffs. He isn't "the down and out player of the day." He's been borderline useless for months now.

The only reason he won't get bought out is because we hopefully attach a sweeter and dump him somewhere.

 

[Three On Zero]

Should be an easy win for Vancouver barring a goaltending collapse.

The games haven't been all that close tbh... McDavid standing on their head and Silovs being an AHL are the only reasons this series isn't either 3-1 Vancouver or already over. Neither has controlled any of the games though. It's pretenders vs. McDavid shit really.

Fixed

 

[LuLover96]

This series has really shown how much better Draisaitl is than McDavid. I always knew one guy carried the other but I didn’t realize this was Drais team. The only Oiler showing real heart on a day in day out basis

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

Not true, there were a lot of questions around the Avs goaltending and Oiler fans thought McDavid would show to be better than MacKinnon enough to make it a close series. I'm not convinced that Oilers fans thought they *would* win, but there was definitely belief that they *could* if everything went right.

You've made up a non-existent thing. Nurse and Draisaitl injuries sealed our fate and any belief that things "could" go right was gone.

 

[Three On Zero]

This series has really shown how much better Draisaitl is than McDavid. I always knew one guy carried the other but I didn’t realize this was Drais team. The only Oiler showing real heart on a day in day out basis

The issue with McDavid is that he has such a poor attitude and expects preferential treatment, he folds under pressure/physical games. Draisaitl is more of the prototypical playoff player, he’s strong on the boards and can fend people off better.

McDavid is the far superior player but he draws so much attention that it leaves Draisaitl alone to do what he wants.

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

So division winner is bubble level shit ?

Kind of like how a random player way overachieves each year, the same thing happens with teams.

 

[Dust]

The issue with McDavid is that he has such a poor attitude and expects preferential treatment, he folds under pressure/physical games. Draisaitl is more of the prototypical playoff player, he’s strong on the boards and can fend people off better.

McDavid is the far superior player but he draws so much attention that it leaves Draisaitl alone to do what he wants.

Imagine watching all of the games McDavid plays, and still being this far off base lol. That game 7 he played against LA was still one of the single most dominant performances by a single player I've seen in the playoffs.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Trade goaltenders and EDM is awaiting R3 opponent and Van are already teeing off @ Northlands

 

[Three On Zero]

Imagine watching all of the games McDavid plays, and still being this far off base lol. That game 7 he played against LA was still one of the single most dominant performances by a single player I've seen in the playoffs.

My condolences that you haven’t seen much playoff hockey

91 Lemieux, 93 Gretzky, 94 Messier, 03 Giguire, 11 Thomas. Just a couple better ones

 

[Dust]

My condolences that you haven’t seen much playoff hockey

You're describing someone like Mitch Marner, not a guy with 93 points in 58 career playoff games. If that's folding under the pressure of playoff hockey then I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Three On Zero]

You're describing someone like Mitch Marner, not a guy with 93 points in 58 career playoff games. If that's folding under the pressure of playoff hockey then I don't know what to tell you.

No one said he folds under the pressure of playoff hockey

 

[Dieseloil]

The issue with McDavid is that he has such a poor attitude and expects preferential treatment, he folds under pressure/physical games. Draisaitl is more of the prototypical playoff player, he’s strong on the boards and can fend people off better.

McDavid is the far superior player but he draws so much attention that it leaves Draisaitl alone to do what he wants.

You’ve outdone yourself

 

[Burt Macklin]

Haven't you seen the Oiler fans narrative?

The Canucks are frauds and the Oil will sweep, and if they don't sweep it's because they're lucky, and if they're not lucky it's Skinner, and if Skinner doesn't matter then neither team will beat DAL/COL anyways so the loss doesn't matter.

This is frighteningly accurate.

 

[Three On Zero]

This is frighteningly accurate.

Both these teams are playing like frauds. These have been pre-season level games

 

[Dust]

No one said he folds under the pressure of playoff hockey

Um

"The issue with McDavid is that he has such a poor attitude and expects preferential treatment, he folds under pressure/physical games"

He's been one of the best playoff performers since his rookie season.